Aircraft Carrier Game Basketball - Head coach Jim Boeheim of the Syracuse Orange yells to his team during the Battle On The Midway against the San Diego State Aztecs onboard the USS Midway Aircraft Carrier on November 11, 2012, in San Diego, California.
Throughout the course of USS Abraham Lincoln's history, it has been stationed in San Diego, California; Everett, Washington; and Bremerton, Washington, before spending time at Newport News, Virginia. San Diego's Coronado is again the home port for the aircraft carrier hoping to bring carrier basketball back to the masses.
Aircraft Carrier Game Basketball
North Carolina and Michigan State could not have asked for better weather conditions for an outdoor basketball game. Temperatures were in the mid-60s, and the wind stayed calm for most of the game. The Tar Heels of UNC defeated the Spartans of MSU 67-55 with President Barack Obama in attendance.
Sun 13 Nov 2022 06.24 AEDT Last modified on Sun 13 Nov 2022 06.36 AEDT The USS Abraham Lincoln, currently in Tokyo Bay, will return this summer before the November game, but has already been a key pop culture icon in America.
While multiple movies have been filmed on the ship, it was a key player in the recent Top Gun: Maverick release. Of the four aircraft carrier games scheduled in 2012, only two were completed. The safety issues caused by moisture collecting on the court and the difficulty of shooting a basketball in windy outdoor conditions were enough to keep another basketball game "at sea" from being scheduled.
Originally launched in 1988 and commissioned in 1989, the $3 billion ship's first deployment came in 1991 as part of Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm. Over the last few decades, USS Abraham Lincoln has been on two record-breaking post-Cold War deployments;
the latest was a 295-day stretch at sea, ending in 2020. The ship has also been involved in deployments from Iran to Afghanistan. The aircraft carrier is known for hosting President George W. Bush's 2003 address to the country, with the banner "Mission Accomplished" hanging in the background.
The inaugural game on an aircraft carrier worked out well in San Diego in 2011, although rain started less than an hour after the game finished. In 2012, the NCAA planned four aircraft carrier games, but the weather wasn't as cooperative.
Two of the four never happened, and one of the two that did was delayed and marred by the conditions. Overall, the players who participated in the aircraft carrier games had great difficulty shooting. In the three completed games, the teams combined to shoot 35.9% from the field, 12.5% from three, and 62.2% from the foul line.
Out of 348 teams in the 2012-13 season, those stats would have finished 346th, last, and 336th, respectively. Meteorologist Ricky Matthews said a game outside in Norfolk in November is theoretically possible. The average high in Norfolk this time of year is about 63 degrees, not too far off San Diego's average high of about 70 degrees.
Despite Boeheim's disdain for the windy conditions during the outdoor game, they seemed to favor his team. The Orange's fabled 2-3 zone defense forced San Diego State to contend with the wind by taking difficult shots away from the basket.
NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY) - One of the most unique events in college sports is happening again this Veterans Day after a long hiatus. Michigan State and No. 2 Gonzaga will square off on the deck of an aircraft carrier, the USS Abraham Lincoln, for the Armed Forces Classic in San Diego.
However, at 1 p.m. on Nov. 11, the Syracuse Orange and San Diego State Aztecs took the court. The middle of the afternoon tip-off time ensured they would not have to deal with rapidly declining temperatures after sunset.
"The experience we had in 2011 when we played North Carolina on the deck of the USS Carl Vinson was one of the most humbling experiences of my career," Izzo says. "This opportunity to play on an aircraft carrier in front of men and women who serve in the military and are willing to put their lives on the line is an experience that is going to mean something to the young men who will play in the game for
a long, long time.” Members of the Military as well as players from the Marquette Golden Eagles and the Ohio State Buckeyes attempt to dry condensation off of the court which caused a delay to the start of their game during the Walmart Carrier Classic played on the deck of the USS Yorktown on
November 9, 2012 in Charleston, South Carolina. The return to the aircraft carrier and outdoor games requires teams to be willing to adjust to the logistics of the unique setting, not unlike the crew of the USS Abraham Lincoln, which is one of the largest warships in the world, and has been on two
of the longest post-Cold War missions for the United States Pacific Fleet. In May 2011, ESPN announced that they would be partnering with the Morale Entertainment Foundation to televise the inaugural Carrier Classic on 11-11-11. Two premier college basketball teams would play a regular-season game on the deck of the USS Carl Vinson in San Diego.
The partnering organizations designed the event to honor the men and women serving the United States in the armed forces. An aerial view of the Battle On The Midway college basketball game played between the Syracuse Orange and the San Diego State Aztecs on board the USS Midway on November 11, 2012 in San Diego, California.
Amy Scullion #25 of the Ohio State Buckeyes attempts to control a loose ball in the first half against Madison Cable #22 (L) and Skylar Diggins #4 of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish during the Walmart Carrier Classic on the deck of the USS Yorktown
on November 9, 2012 in Charleston, South Carolina. It's one of only a handful of games ever played aboard a U.S. Navy carrier, and the first since 2012. The last game pitted hometown San Diego State against Syracuse on the USS Midway (the Orange won 62-49 in front of a crowd of 5,119).
The first was in 2011 on the USS Carl Vinson in San Diego. Dubbed the Carrier Classic, North Carolina beat Michigan State 67-55 with 8,000-plus cheering on, including a well-known basketball fan in former President Barack Obama.
Reflecting on the game nearly a decade later, Boeheim said, "I'm glad we did it; it was a great experience, but I wouldn't want to do it again. I don't know if I would have enjoyed it so
much if we lose." The same evening's planned game in Gainesville, Florida, aboard the USS Bataan was shut down at halftime due to condensation forming on the hardwood. In San Diego, also on November 9, 2012, rain pushed the Syracuse vs.
San Diego State game on the USS Midway in the afternoon of November 11. Sunshine allowed the game to go on, but a wind blowing across San Diego Bay may have contributed to San Diego State shooting 1-for-18 from three-point range.
Again, he pointed to San Diego's mostly perfect conditions and more stable weather patterns. His concern with Norfolk wouldn't necessarily be the temperature itself, but big fluctuations from day to day — and of course, the humidity.
Tim Newcomb is a journalist based in the Pacific Northwest. He covers stadiums, sneakers, gear, infrastructure, and more for a variety of publications, including Popular Mechanics. His favorite interviews have included sit-downs with Roger Federer in Switzerland, Kobe Bryant in Los Angeles, and Tinker Hatfield in Portland.
However, unlike San Diego, there's a higher chance of rain and wind in Hampton Roads — and the small chance of a possible November hurricane/tropical storm. It also depends on whether the game is played during the day or night.
When the USS Abraham Lincoln returns home to San Diego later this year, the crew will trade the flight deck's armored steel for a hardwood basketball floor as part of ESPN's Armed Forces Classic. On Veteran's Day this year, November 11, the Gonzaga Bulldogs will face the Michigan State Spartans in an NCAA basketball game played on the aircraft carrier's deck, while the USS Abraham Lincoln moors at the Naval Air Station North Island in Coronado.
Games on big ships have all been held (or at least attempted to be played) in the Navy's warmer locales — which include humid cities Jacksonville and Charleston, the location of the decommissioned USS Yorktown carrier.
The Carrier Classic also had some competition. The USS Bataan in Jacksonville, Florida, would host The Navy-Marine Corps Classic. In San Diego, the USS Midway would host The Battle on the Midway. All four games would take place on Nov.
9, 2012. Norfolk's also a short drive from Annapolis and the Naval Academy, setting up a possible game against hometown Old Dominion. Maybe a second game could be an in-state rivalry between ACC foes Virginia and Virginia Tech?
After sunset, the sharp temperature drop caused condensation to form on the hardwood. Squeegees and towels occupied the court instead of players. The moisture prevailed, and the game was canceled before a team took a shot.
But if it's a little chilly, or if it rains like it did Friday, Naval Station Norfolk has an assortment of huge aircraft hangars to set up a backup court. That's something the Carrier Classic has done in the past.
Abraham Lincoln has also been part of multiple aid missions, including helping out during evacuations following a volcano eruption in the Philippines, and working as part of a group of ships assisting 45,000 people evacuating from the Visayas.
That evacuation included a baby being born on the ship. But if future games on big Navy ships are going to rely on a series of logistical stars coming together in alignment to even play in places like San Diego, why not try it at the biggest naval base there is?
That's how coach Jim Boeheim described the weather when his Syracuse Orange took on San Diego State on November 11, 2012. Typically, the weather doesn't affect basketball, but this game was unique. It was played outdoors on the deck of an aircraft carrier ported in San Diego, California.
For 2022, the teams hope to focus on the honor, not the weather. "This is a special opportunity for our program to support those who fight for our country in our own small way," Mark Few, Gonzaga head coach, says in the release.
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